A sure way to know the gender of a noun is to look at its article — when it’s available, of course! Like English, French has definite articles, indefinite articles, and partitive articles. The French definite article is the equivalent of the. But French has four forms of article défini.

 

 

 

Example

le Before masculine singular nounsle matin (the morning)

la Before feminine singular nounsla vie (life)

l’Before masculine or feminine singular nouns beginning with a
vowel or a mute –hl’amour (love)

lesBefore masculine or feminine plural nounsles bonbons (candies)

Le and les disappear completely when they are preceded by the prepositions à(at) and de (of/from). This omission is called a contraction, and here’s what happens:

• à + le changes to au

• de + le changes to du

• à + les changes to aux

• de + les changes to des

Here are some examples:

Il va au (à + le) travail. (He goes to work.)

Nous rentrons des (de + les) îles. (We’re returning from the islands.)

So when can you use definite articles?

• Use a definite article to accompany a noun when you’re expressing a preference, using a verb like aimer (to like/to love), préférer (to prefer), or détester (to detest). Here are some examples:

  Negative preferences still count as preferences

  • J’aime le chocolat. (I like chocolate.)

  • Il déteste les huîtres. (He hates oysters.)

  • Elle n’aime pas les bananes. (She does not like bananas.)

  • Tu n’aimes pas le froid. (You don’t like the cold.)

• Use a definite article to name a category in general, like les hommes (men) or le pain (bread), or a concept, like la vie (life) or l’amour (love). Note that in English, the article is often skipped in such instances. Here are some examples:

  • C’est la vie. (That’s life.)

  • Le prix de l’essence a encore augmenté. (The price of gas went up again.)

• Use a definite article to refer to something known to the listeners because it is unique (there’s only one). For example:

  • Le président va faire un discours. (The president is going to make a speech.)

  • Le Pape est allé au Mexique. (The pope went to Mexico.)

• Use a definite article to refer to something made specific by what follows it. For example:

  • Le chat des voisins est un siamois. (The neighbors’ cat is a Siamese.)

  • Le livre que tu m’as prêté est formidable. (The book you lent me is great.)

• Use a definite article to name a geographical place.

  • la France (France)

  • les États-Unis (the United States)

• Use a definite article before a day of the week to indicate every.

  • le lundi (every Monday or on Mondays)

  • le dimanche (every Sunday or on Sundays)

• Use a definite article (instead of a possessive adjective like in English) before a part of the body, with a reflexive verb. Here are a few examples:

  • Tu te brosses les dents. (You’re brushing your teeth.)

  • Nous nous lavons les mains. (We wash our hands.)

• Use a definite article to name languages. For example:

  • Il apprend l’italien. (He’s learning Italian.)

  • J’étudie le français. (I study French.)

 

HOW TO SPEAK FRENCH: COMMON FRENCH EXPRESSIONS

When learning to speak French, master a few common expressions to build your conversation skills. Almost everyone who speaks French uses the following list of phrases: These expressions are so very French that you may even pass as a native of France when you use them.

 

ÇA M’A FAIT TRÈS PLAISIR! OR C’ÉTAIT GÉNIAL!

(sah mah feh treh pleh-zeer) or (say-teh zhay-nyahl)

(I really liked that!) or (That was fantastic!) Here are two ways to express your excitement and really get it across, too. You can also speak for your partner (whose French is nonexistent) by just changing the pronoun: Ça lui a fait très plaisir! (sah lwee ah feh treh pleh-zeer!) (He/She really liked that!)

 

PASSEZ-MOI UN COUP DE FIL!

(pah-say mwa aN koot feel)

(Give me a call.) You could say of course: Appelez-moi! (ah-puh-lay mwah) or Téléphonez-moi! (tay-lay-foh-nay mwah), but that wouldn’t sound as sophisticated!

Some possible variations are:

• Passez-nous un coup de fil! (pah-say noo aN koot feel) (Give us a call!)

• Je vais vous/lui/leur passer un coup de fil. (zhuh veh voo/lwee/luhr pah-say aN koot feel) (I am going to call you/him/her/them.)

 

ON Y VA! OR ALLONS-Y!

(oh nee vah!) or (ah-lohN zee!)

(Let’s go [there]!) You can also send someone off somewhere with the latter one: You can say Allez-y! (ah-lay-zee) (Go ahead!) or Vas-y! (vah-zee) for the familiar form if you want to get a little insistent about it.

 

JE N’EN SAIS RIEN.

(zhuh nahn seh ree-ahn)

(I don’t know anything about it.) In casual speech, you can also say (and this is what you hear most of the time) J’en sais rien (jahn seh ree-ahn). Technically this phrase is grammatically incorrect, but then so is “I know nothing” instead of “I don’t know anything.”

 

MAIS JE RÊVE!

(meh zhuh rehv)

(Oh, I don’t believe it!) Literally this means: “But I am dreaming!” and is an expression that has become incredibly popular in recent years, probably because it works on every level of excitement. You can use it with any personal pronoun of your choice. For example, you could say to your friend Mais tu rêves! (meh tew rehv) (You must be crazy!) if he/she comes up with some unrealistic idea, plan, or wish, or Mais ils/elles rêvent! (meh eel/ehl rehv) when you are talking about several people.

 

QUEL AMOUR DE PETIT GARÇON!

(kehl ah-moor duh ptee gahr-sohn)

(What an adorable little boy!) Or you could just say, pointing to a little kid, a pet, or a toy: Quel amour! (kehl ah-moor) and everyone around you will be so impressed not only with your beautiful French but also with your object of admiration!

 

VOUS N’AVEZ PAS LE DROIT.

(voo nah-vay pah luh drwah)

(You don’t have the right.) This phrase simply means: “It is forbidden,” but says it ever so much more elegantly. Again, you can vary the personal pronouns, and also tenses, if you like.

 

TU CHERCHES MIDI À 14H.

(tew shehrsh mee-dee ah kah-tohrz uhr)

This has to be the best one of all. Try to translate this and what you come up with is: “You are looking for noon at 2 p.m.” You’re not sure what that is supposed to mean? Well, it is a tough one, but it’s such a neat phrase and heavily used, so here it is: You are saying that so-and-so is making things more difficult than necessary, that he or she is sort of off the mark and has lost perspective: Il/Elle cherche midi à 14h. You can also practice saying, Il ne faut pas chercher midi à 14h (eel nuh foh pah shehrsh-shay) (You shouldn’t get so obsessive about it!)

 

JE VEUX ACHETER UNE BRICOLE

(zhuh vuh ash-tay ewn bree-kohl)

(I want to buy a little something, a doodad.) It’s the word bricole that makes you sound so “in.” It actually derives from the verb bricoler (bree-koh-lay) which means to do odd jobs.

 

PRENONS UN POT!

(pruh-nohn aN po)

(Let’s take a pot)? No, that can’t be it, or can it? Well, if you stretch your imagination a bit, it means: “Let’s have a drink!” (Not a whole pot full maybe, but . . .)

 

SHOPPING IN FRENCH STORES

If you don’t know where to start or even if you don’t have the slightest idea of what you want to bring back, un grand magasin (ewn grahN mah-gah-zaN) (a department store), may be a good choice to begin your shopping trip. The two most famous ones in Paris, le Printemps (luh pran-tahN) and les Galeries Lafayette (lay gah-lree lah-fah-yeht) are located a couple of blocks from each other on the same boulevard. How convenient! You are likely to find something you want in either one. In most respects, they are very similar, but many people swear by one or the other. In Montreal’s Ogilvy’s, you can find a collection of designers’ boutiques which rival anything in Paris or London, and Eaton’s, also on the rue Sainte-Catherine (St. Catherine Street), is the largest department store in the city. These are just a few examples of what is available in either city.

Of course, department stores are not the only places you can go to shop. They are just the easiest, because everything is there together and you can browse without being bothered. You can also do this easily in one of the many shopping malls, les centres commerciaux (lay sahN-truh ko-mehr-syo). These malls, which are a fairly recent phenomenon in Europe, are developing outside of big cities, but also more and more inside them and are very popular with the locals. They give you the advantage of medium-size boutiques (often part of a chain) with the ease of having everything located in one spot. Last but not least, don’t forget that the French language has given to the world the word boutique (boo-teek). From simple to fancy, from trinkets to designer clothes, they offer everything. But your browsing may be hindered by the over-attentive presence of the salesclerk. On the other hand, you are likely to receive good professional advice.

Here’s a list of other types of stores and the items you can find in them:

• A la librairie, on achète des livres. (ah lah lee-breh-ree ohN-nah-sheht day leevr) (At the bookstore, you buy books.)

• A la bijouterie, on achète des bijoux. (ah lah bee-zhoot-ree ohN nah-sheht day bee-zhoo) (At the jewelry store, you buy jewels.)

• Au bureau de tabac (France)/à la tabagie (Québec), on achète des cigarettes, des timbres, et des cartes postales. (o bew-ro duh tah-bah / ah lah tah-bah-zhee ohN-nah-sheht day see-gah-reht day taN-bray day kahrt pohs-tahl) (At the tobacco shop, you buy cigarettes, stamps, and postcards.)

• A la dépanneuse (Québec), on trouve de tout! (ah lah day-pah-nuh-zohN troov duh too) (At the convenience store, you can find everything!)

 

When you decide to go shopping, you probably want to call ahead to find out about the store’s hours. These questions can help:

• A quelle heure ouvrez-vous/fermez-vous? (ah keh-luhr oo-vray-voo/fehr-may-voo) (At what time do you open/close?)

• Quelles sont vos heures d’ouverture? (kehl sohN vo-zuhr doo-vehr-tewr)(What are your opening hours?)

• Etes-vous ouverts le dimanche? (eht voo oovehr luh dee-mahNsh) (Are you open on Sundays?)